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HDTV Recorder and Blu-ray High Definition Video Recorder
The HDTV recorder is a recorder that is capable of recording HDTV broadcasts in either 720p or 1080i and then be viewed in 1080p resolution. A DVD recorder cannot record HDTV broadcasts as DVD is not a High Definition (HD) format.
The DVD recorder only has a maximum resolution of 480i but recordings can be played back in 480p resolution on a progressive scan DVD player. The 480i resolution can also further be upscaled to 720p/1080i/1080p using an upscaling DVD player.
DVD Recorders with ATSC Tuners
With recent technological advances you can now buy a DVD recorder with an ATSC tuner built-in enabling it to receive Digital TV and HDTV broadcasts. These ATSC tuners are also known as HDTV tuners, or Integrated HD Tuners.
ATSC refers to the set of standards set by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television signal transmissions that have been phased in to replace the analog television systems.
Since a large number of consumers already own DVD players, many are wondering whether you can record and play HDTV material on your current DVD recorder/player. The answer is no, DVD recorders were not designed to record or playback HDTV broadcasts.
The newer DVD recorders, that are equipped with the ATSC tuner, are able to receive and record Digital TV and HDTV signals. However, these recordings are not recorded in HD but ordinary DVD standard resolution. What happens here is that the HDTV signals are downscaled to the standard DVD definition.
Those DVD recorders with upscaling playback capabilities can increase the playback resolution to 1080i or 1080p. However, these resolutions are not the same as true high definition. Also, the picture will however, look better than it would in standard definition without upscaling.
Blu-ray HD Recording
Currently on the market is the Blu-ray format which is capable of true High Definition recording. Blue-ray technology is geared towards high definition video recording.
High definition recording is at present mostly limited to Blu-ray Writers installed in PCs or to a few stand-alone-dedicated Blu-ray recorders.
A classic example of the new generation of HDTV recorder is the SONY BDZ-S77 DVD recorder which records high definition video in MPEG-2 and sound in Dolby Digital and MPEG-2 AAC.
AVCHD
Another high definition format for recording is AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition).
AVCHD enables high definition 1080i and 720p video to be recorded on the following: a standard DVD disc, or MiniDVD disc, miniDV tape, Hard Drive or digital camera Memory Cards. On these AVCHD uses a compression format known as MPEG4 (H264).
At present Blu-ray HD recorders are only just starting to appear on the market, and as more manufacturers start competing for the HDTV recorder market, we will soon see more mainstream models appearing, and at more affordable prices.
